Mark 1:14-20, January 24, 2021, Sermon

“Something More” 

Pastor Randy Butler 

We sometimes miss the danger of what Jesus and his followers were up to. Mark tells us that after John the Baptist was arrested (there are arrests being made) Jesus came to Galilee making public proclamations about the Kingdom of God. Most of us would probably see it as a time to lay low and let the danger pass. Jesus sees it as a time to act – the right time, the fulfillment of time, he says. And it’s like he holds a press conference and starts speaking of the Kingdom of God; speaking of it as good news.

It is not bad news. As much as we try to turn it into bad news, or boring news, or ho-hum news. It is good news. The kind of good news that people drop everything for, no matter what the danger. Notice too that this good news shows up right in the midst of the bad news of John’s arrest. That is where the good news appears in his life and ours.

Armed with a message of good news, Jesus goes walking along the Sea of Galilee. He comes upon two pairs of brothers, all four of them fishermen, and Jesus calls them to himself. The first pair is of course Simon and Andrew. The gospel of Mark says that as Jesus walks along the Sea of Galilee, Simon and Andrew are casting a net into the sea. They were what today we would call commercial fishermen. That’s hard work. The Sea of Galilee was a rich fishery in the first century. Fish was the main staple of the Mediterranean diet. And the many species of fish in the Sea of Galilee were consumed far and wide in the Mediterranean region. It’s hard work, possibly lucrative work. Although it is also possible that a small fisherman would be crowded out by other larger fishing interests on the lake. The video series The Chosen, which some of us are watching and discussing, suggests that maybe Peter and Andrew were struggling one-boat fishermen, having a hard time competing with the larger fleets, the merchant fishing operations. It’s an interesting possibility.

So Jesus comes along and says to these two commercial fishermen brothers, “Follow me and I will make you become fishers of people.” That’s what it says literally in the original language. The smoother translation in our bible says simply, “I will make you fish for people.” But there is a big difference. If Jesus is saying “I will make you fish for people, the emphasis is on what we do. If he is saying, “I will make you become fishers of people,” the emphasis is on what we are, what we become. And I think that is what he is saying. He wants us to become something more.

It is also interesting that Jesus doesn’t say to them, “Throw those nets down. Fishing is a waste of time. You should be doing something more important with your time for God and be fishing for people.” Please hear me again. That is not what Jesus is saying.

Now there is no doubt that Peter and Andrew take a significant step here. Mark says that they immediately left their nets and followed him. Theirs was a unique and singular calling. Mark later calls them the apostles. But did they ever fish again? It seems likely that they did. Both the gospels of Luke and John suggest that they didn’t just leave their jobs behind, that they still owned boats and made a living fishing as needed. Here is my point: Jesus is not calling all of us to leave our jobs and become evangelists, as if that is a higher calling than owning a store, ranching, farming, construction, teaching, and yes fishing. Again it is clear that Jesus wants Andrew, Peter, James and John for his inner circle of followers. They will indeed be up to something very different in the years ahead. But Jesus isn’t asking them or us to just leave our jobs. Perhaps he wants us to stay, and see and do our jobs with new meaning and possibility. It is possible, even likely that Peter and Andrew and James and John can be real Galilean fishermen and still fish for people. The two vocations are not mutually exclusive, if they are filled with a new vision of the kingdom of God in their work. Notice that Jesus goes to them at their place of work. That the Son of God goes to them in what Eugene Peterson calls our everyday, ordinary life - our sleeping, eating, going to work and walking around life, tells us something about the appreciation Jesus has for the work that they do.

I love the story of the traveler in the medieval period who comes upon a project where a stonemason is at work. He asks the stonemason, “What are you doing?” The man looks weary and unhappy. He responds, “Can’t you see I am cutting and laying down stone? My back is killing me, and I can’t wait to be done.” The traveler continues on his way and comes upon a second stonemason. “What are you doing,” he asks the mason. He answers, “I am building a wall. I’m grateful to have this work, so I can support my family.” As the traveler walks on he encounters a third stonemason who seems to be doing the same work as the previous two. He asks the man, “What are you doing?” The man stands up straight. His face is radiant. He looks up at the sky and the massive structure before him and spreads his arms wide. He says, “I am building a cathedral.”

How do we go about life and work? What we do may not be as important as how we do what we do. What we do is not as important as who we are; how we are, in what we do. You and I can spread good news, and fish for people and still keep our day jobs. In fact it is our day job that is the very arena of sharing God’s love in deed, and when appropriate, in word as well.

The church has not always helped you in your vocations. We have not valued your work enough as a way of living and sharing God’s kingdom. Early twentieth century writer Dorothy Sayers notes this deficiency in the church when she wrote, “The Church’s approach to an intelligent carpenter is usually confined to exhorting him not to be drunk and disorderly in his leisure hours, and to come to church on Sundays. What the Church should be telling him is this: that the very first demand that his religion makes upon him is that he should make good tables.”

When Jesus moves on to the next pair of brothers, he finds them, James and John, mending their nets. Certainly our work can be tedious. Mending nets isn’t the most stimulating work. Maybe when Jesus says simply “Follow me,” they were happy to leave for what appeared to be more fun and adventurous living than mending nets or fishing all day. They too leave their nets, and Mark adds the interesting detail that they left their father in the boat with the hired men, and followed Jesus. I’ve never really heard anyone take the father’s side, but I’ve got to come to his defense here. Zebedee’s sons leave him with the hired hands, and the nets still have holes in them. “Thanks boys, I really appreciate your help.”

Now the call of the gospel does sometimes lead us to leave a job that isn’t right for us in our new life with Jesus. Jesus’ invitation “Follow me,” does sometimes cause division within our own families. But often we are better off, and God is better served by our staying right where we are and being a different person. We don’t have to leave our job to respond to God’s call. It is precisely in our job that we can respond to God’s call. You don’t have to go anywhere.

Writer Wendell Berry said, “The world cannot be discovered by a journey of miles, no matter how long, but only by a spiritual journey of one inch, very arduous and humbling and joyful, by which we arrive at the ground at our own feet, and learn to be at home.”

I am grateful for those of you in various occupations around the Baker Valley. For your vocations, for God’s call upon your life, even if you are retired. Pastors like me are too much inside the church sometimes. And we need those of you who stand at the doorway, looking both ways – out into the community and back inside the fellowship of the church as well. God bless your work and your life in this community, the place to which God through Jesus has called you, and said to you “Follow me.” Amen.

John 1:43-51, January 17, 2021, Sermon

“Knowing and Being Known”

Pastor Randy Butler 

“The Education of Youth is the Surest Foundation of Happiness.” Do you know where that comes from? It’s written above the doorway across the street at the Baker Middle School. It’s a good motto and generally true. A good education for the most part certainly contributes to a happier life. The pursuit of knowledge, the gaining of knowledge is a worthy and exciting undertaking whether you are in middle school, elementary school, college or an adult education class. Learning new things is one of the great experiences of life. Young students who develop an interest or passion for a new subject – math, english, history – come alive and grow and new vistas open up for them. The same thing happens with more practical courses. The heavy equipment operator training program at the Baker Technical Institute is a great program and what a thrill for a young person learning to operate a Grader or an Excavator.

Adults who learn new skills later in life develop confidence. We older adults grow as we learn to utilize our computers in ways that we never imagined. Retirees who learn to play the piano or guitar are energized and motivated to learn and grow more. The same with skiing or fishing. Or snowshoeing. I’ve been snowshoeing for the first time ever this winter, and though there isn’t that much to learn about snowshoeing, it is fun to develop a new activity and skill. The pursuit of new knowledge is good. Proverbs 15:14 says “The mind of one who has understanding seeks knowledge, but the mouths of fools feed on folly.”

But we also know that the pursuit of knowledge has limits – the taking in of information just so we can know is not particularly productive. It can even lead to arrogance, as we think we know more than others. As Proverbs 1: 7 says “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.”

In our New Testament text Jesus is at the beginning of his ministry gathering followers, disciples who could be with him in the journey ahead. He has just called Andrew and his brother Simon, and now he heads north to Galilee, perhaps fertile territory for those inclined to follow him. And there he finds Philip, who in turn finds Nathanael. Philip tells Nathanael, “We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth.” Now that’s a mouthful, sounds a little academic. Maybe Philip is appealing to Nathanael’s academic nature. Nathanael is likely a student of scripture. We learn that he is sitting under a fig tree. Some of the rabbis of the time equated gathering figs with studying Torah, the law. And Nathanael’s reaction to Philip’s announcement is intellectually skeptical, even derisive. “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” In the original language the word Nazareth comes at the beginning of the sentence: “Nazareth? Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael knows that Nazareth is never mentioned in the law or the prophets. It’s not found anywhere in our Old Testament, and it is kind of “Nowheresville.” Surely the messiah, he thinks, won’t be from Nazareth. So Nathanael has opinions, knows his scripture, knows about the law, the prophets, knows about the Messiah. But the question is does he know God?

I really like Philip here because after hearing Nathanael’s sarcastic response Philip doesn’t try to explain, elaborate, argue or defend. He simply answers with three words, “Come and see.” Someone called these three words “the best remedy against preconceived opinion.” “You’re not so sure, fine, just come and see – check it out for yourself.” There is freedom in this. It isn’t up to us to defend or argue for God. All we have to do is say, “Just come and see Jesus for yourself. Make up your own mind.” And notice too that Philip doesn’t say, “Go and see. I’ll just take your place under the fig tree while go and see.” No, it’s come and see – they will go together, Philip and Nathanael. Another insight into inviting to step out in the journey toward Jesus. We walk with them.

Now when Jesus sees them coming he has some words of his own, “Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no guile.” I think he says it with a smile. He appreciates Nathanael’s straight talk and outspoken honesty. And then Nathanael asks “Where did you get that? Where did you get to know me?” And here we are at the turning point for Nathanael. The fact that Jesus somehow supernaturally knew him was certainly impressive. The intelligence of Jesus got the attention of Nathanael’s sharp intellect. But the fact that Jesus knew him, that’s what really got him. That touched not just his head but his heart. Here is the pivot point. Because now all that Nathanael knows about God will give way to his being known by God, through Jesus.

Maybe Nathanael thought of our Old Testament text: “O Lord, you have searched and known me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from far away. You search out my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways…You hem me in behind and before, and lay your hand upon me…such knowledge is too wonderful for me, it is so high that I cannot attain it.” Wonderful indeed. Nathanael now knows that he is known - by God.

Now let’s admit that we find such divine knowing a little unnerving. We want to be known but we like to hide a little sometimes too. It is threatening for us to be known by anyone, let alone by the One who searches hearts, as Paul puts it in Romans. Still we desire, perhaps more than anything else, that someone might really know us as we truly are and still love us, still accept us, not reject us. But it’s risky, this being known. Married couples know this. We go through years and years of peeling back layers of our personality with each other. Even in marriage being known is threatening. Garrison Keillor of the Prairie Home Companion once said “marriage is the true test of character – to make a good life with your best critic. You have many critics but your spouse is by far the best informed of all of them.” It’s hard to open up ourselves, to reveal ourselves, disclose our true selves. Yet it is one of our greatest hopes and desires – to be known by each other, and to be known and loved by God, even with all our quirks and annoying habits.

I remember discussing this passage with a group in my church in Seattle. I asked, “How would you feel if Jesus knew you like he knew Nathanael.” It was quiet for a moment and then one woman answered simply, “Special; it would make me feel special.” I think that it made Nathanael feel special to be known like that by God. Jesus knows Nathanael, identifies Nathanael, likes Nathanael, wants to be with Nathanael, wants Nathanael to join up with their group. He doesn’t rename Nathanael like he does Simon a few verses before this. “You are Simon son of John, you are to be called Peter from now on – the Rock.” But no less is Nathanael recreated, renamed, redirected. Nathanael has known about God but now God knows Nathanael and that makes all the difference.

Now with so much at stake how is it that we might become more known by God. Most of it has to do with simply trusting and letting go of what we hold on to so tightly. It has to do with our posture in life, our attitude. Are we rigid, controlling, defensive, fearful? In his little book, With Open Hands, writer Henri Nouwen says that “the world’s wisdom says it’s best to stand firm and get a good grip on what’s yours here and now. Because it could be taken from you. Smart people keep on their toes, with muscles tense and fists clenched; they squint and are always ready for an attack.” He tells of the time when he worked in a psychiatric hospital and a woman was brought in – she was wild, swinging at everything in sight, frightening everyone so much that the doctors had to take everything away from her. But there was one small coin that she gripped in her first and would not give it up. In fact, it took two people to pry open that clenched hand. It was as though she would lose her very self along with the coin. That was her fear.

We are invited by Jesus to open up our tightly clenched fist and give up our last coin. Like Nathanael, sometimes we have to surrender what we know, what we are so sure of, what we cling to so tightly. Sometimes we have to unlearn what we have learned, so that we can simply be known by God.

How do you approach life? In the book of Revelation, Jesus says “I stand at the door and knock, if you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to you and eat with you, and you with me. Jesus really wants to know us because Jesus loves us and accepts us. Will we open the door from our side and welcome him. Will we let him come to know us? Amen.

Mark 1:4-13, January 10, 2021, Sermon

“Blest and Sent”

Pastor Randy Butler 

There is a little creek up in Eastern Washington not far from Spokane called Rock Creek. It is in the middle of nowhere, out in the desert-like terrain of that part of the state. The amazing thing is that there are some pretty big fish in that little desert creek. Desert creeks, it turns out, are quite prolific in the production of the aquatic insects that trout love to feed on. And the more they eat, of course, the bigger they get. Something about the hot weather and water flowing through the desert makes for some pretty good fishing. Water in the wilderness. It is a life-giving combination.

The Jordan River in Israel flows through various regions, some more lush than others. But we are told that John the Baptist is in the wilderness, baptizing people in the Jordan, and there is no doubt that some of the Jordan flows through some very arid land. So John is baptizing people in the Jordan in the wilderness. And our text this morning says, “In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.” It is very similar to what we read in verse 5 where it says that people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him and were baptized in the River Jordan. In that verse it is all the people of Israel, now we are down to one representative of the people – Jesus coming out to be baptized in the Jordan.

Mark says that the heavens are torn open, and as Jesus is coming up out of the water the Spirit comes down to meet him and lights on him like a dove. Jesus comes up, the Spirit comes down. And there is a voice, “You are my Son.” And we recall that in the book of Exodus, God says, “Israel is my firstborn son.” The entire nation and people. And now we are concentrated on one man – “You are my Son.” “You are my Son, the Beloved.” And we are reminded yet again of the prophet Hosea, where the Lord says, “When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my beloved son.”

And now here Jesus is the representative of that same love – “You are my Son the Beloved, with you I am well pleased.” It is like the divine favor meant for the entire people of Israel is now focused on, concentrated upon Jesus as the representative of the people. He receives the unreserved blessing of God for all the people, and through him, in him, Israel is restored to sonship. Or better we as the people of God are made his sons and daughters in those words to Jesus our brother, we who are in Christ, receive the same blessing – You are my daughter, my son, my beloved, with you I am well pleased.” Jesus receives the unique blessing of God in this moment, no doubt, but we who are in Christ receive it as well.

So this is our starting point, especially at the beginning of this new year – the favor of God, the blessing of God. This is our foundation – the love and blessing of God our heavenly father. Those who are parents want so much to establish this foundation for our children, so that no matter what they experience in life, they can fall back to the truth about themselves, “You are my beloved son my beloved daughter, I am really pleased with you.” This is the unshakeable foundation of Jesus’ life and ours. His beginning and ours.

One of my favorite writers, Henri Nouwen, points out that this word of favor from God is spoken about us and to us before anything else is said to us or about us. This is the word spoken from eternity – You are my beloved daughter, you are my beloved son, I am really pleased with you. A lot of other things will be spoken to us and about us indeed. But we start with the favor and blessing of God, never to be taken from us. The Spirit of God rests upon us just as the Spirit rests upon Jesus.

And so we are sort of surprised when we read that the same Spirit that descended upon Jesus in the water now drives Jesus out into the wilderness. It is the Spirit in both actions, two very different actions. The Spirit who pairs water with wilderness, now pairs blessing with testing. Jesus was blessed and now there is a test. Both from the same Spirit. Mark says this takes place immediately after his baptism. And Mark says that Jesus is driven out – it is a very strong verb. Mark wants us to know that this wilderness sojourn is not really Jesus’ idea. We don’t usually volunteer for the hot dry wilderness do we? Something, Someone drives us there. It isn’t usually our idea of a good time. Does this mean that God is always testing us, causing these wilderness experiences? Well, no. But we do learn here that the desert can be a place of testing and purifying, and profound growth. We come to find that there is water in the wilderness, blessing in the testing.

Life sends us tests, and temptations – they are there to determine whether the divine favor we receive in baptism is really true. Will our being beloved children of God hold up in the heat of battle? Our identity as God’s sons and daughters must be battle tested. It is our identity as God’s children that helps us endure the wilderness experiences of life, but our identity will be tested. We will find out whether we can build on this foundation of love and blessing or whether there are cracks in this foundation. Those who are blessed will be tested. There is water and there is wilderness.

Now it is interesting in Mark’s abbreviated account of the wilderness testing of Jesus that the outcome is left unclear. Mark does not say that Jesus defeated Satan, that he emerged victorious, never to worry again. It is kind of unresolved, as if to suggest the battle may be ongoing. We simply read that Jesus was tempted by Satan, and he was with wild beasts and the angels waited on him. We trust that for ourselves as well. In the wilderness experiences of life we encounter many wild beasts, but the angels wait on us too.

Something quite powerful does happen to Jesus in the wilderness. Writer Tilden Edwards puts it like this: “Jesus’ culminating preparation for ministry was alone, in the wilderness, going through the dark, diverting, corrupting forces of evil, until they were faced down and the power shriveled. He emerged empowered, emboldened, with an indomitable sense of vocation. After this time he continued to go off alone to pray from time to time.”

When blessing is put through testing, the result is powerful confidence In God and boldness to make it known. Jesus emerges from the wilderness struggle proclaiming what Mark calls the good news of God, saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.” The time is fulfilled, not just everyday time, like it is time for lunch, but big time, pregnant time about to be delivered. Everything has been leading up to this moment of birth. The time is fulfilled! And the Kingdom of God has come near. In Luke, Jesus says you don’t have to look over there or over here, here it is there it is, but the Kingdom of God is in your midst.

The year past has been very difficult. The week past has been incredibly difficult for our nation. Though the new year brings us hope the date on the calendar marked January 1 doesn’t mean that everything gets better right away. Still, at the beginning of this new year let us remember though we will continue to be tested even in the year ahead, we are no less blessed with the favor of God. You and I are children of God. And nothing that comes in the year ahead will change that. And so we can say, “Happy new year.” 

Ephesians 1:3-14, January 3, 2021, Sermon

“God For Us” 

Pastor Randy Butler

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, just as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love. He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and insight he has made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure that he set forth in Christ, as a plan for the fullness of time, to gather up all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. In Christ we have also obtained an inheritance, having been destined according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will, so that we, who were the first to set our hope on Christ, might live for the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you had heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and had believed in him, were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit; this is the pledge of our inheritance toward redemption as God’s own people, to the praise of his glory." Ephesians 1:3-14

The text we just read is one long sentence in the original Greek language. It strings one profound truth to another, leading someone to call this passage a golden chain of many links. And it truly is that. But we also tend to miss much of it because it is filled with what we might call religious words - theological words like grace, blessing, heavenly places, holy, redemption, forgiveness, inheritance, Holy Spirit and other words, which if we’ve been coming to worship services for a while, can sometimes when we hear them read, go in one ear and out the other without sticking in our brain or heart. I sometimes think that the best way to study or preach on a passage like this is to take the first verse, unpack that, and not move on until we have some sense of what that verse is trying to say. Each line is packed with such spiritual meat that we have to chew on and digest each word and line before we move on.

Now these words, thoughts and ideas were certainly relevant to the original recipients of the letter. The Ephesians lived in a pluralistic world of many religious beliefs. Their gods were many – a god or divinity for every city, every home, every guild, every intersection of roads. So the Ephesians lived with uncertainty about just who or what was running the universe. Judaism was very appealing to some because of its strong sense of one God and definite code of ethics. But it was inaccessible to most gentiles. You were either born a Jew or not. They also were increasingly aware that they were subjects of the Roman Empire which in their century had become a dictatorship, leaving them susceptible to the Emperor’s whims and desires. So Paul’s words in Ephesians have meaning for people who were set adrift in the cultural and political waters without direction.

The same thing could be said of our time too. These words have relevance for us as well. And one way to reawaken us to the meaning of these words and thoughts is to ask what if they were not true. Sometimes we need to ask of those things that we take for granted, what if we didn’t have them. Like many young men I took my mother for granted. But if you took my mother away from me, I would have been lost. What if what Paul says in Ephesians were not the case?

We read that God has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in heaven, and we say, “Oh I know that – God has blessed us.” But maybe we could ask, “What if that were not true?” What if God has not at all blessed us with the spiritual riches of heavenly realm? What if the doors of heaven were shut closed? Now most of us would agree that God is not against us. But we might conclude that God is remote and distant. Maybe God wears a mask, and maintains social and physical distance. Or maybe God just prefers to remain neutral, detached, uninvolved with us; waiting for us to make the first move. What if that were the case?

The letter to the Ephesians of course suggests a different reality; an alternative way of living and thinking about life. It claims that God is always moving toward us in love. The gates of heaven are indeed open to pour out blessing upon us. According to what we’ve just read, God is relational, kind of gregarious, just wants to be with us, can’t stay away really, choosing us, adopting us into the family as his children, settling on us as the focus of God’s love. God is for us, not at all neutral, not waiting for us but running down the driveway to greet us and bring us into the warmth of the family home. And we are not an afterthought. We are planned, our roots go back into the mind of God as far as you can go. We are chosen by God in eternity, before the foundation of the world. We are not random. You are not a mistake.

God can’t seem to help heaping love and grace upon us. God freely bestows grace upon us according to Ephesians. God lavishes grace on us. Grace just keeps coming. When I lived in Seattle a good friend of mine who was a pastor for some time in Darrington introduced me to fishing the rivers of the Puget Sound for Salmon and Steelhead and Bull Trout. I loved fishing with him, but I loved just traveling around with him because he also knew all the good places to eat in the small communities where we would find ourselves. One day after a not great day of fishing we drove through the small town of Sylvana, Washington, and we pulled into a place called Willow and Jim’s café. It was about three in the afternoon and my friend said they had good pie. So we sat down and ordered apple pie from the friendly waitress. And in a few minutes she delivered a couple of huge pieces of pie topped with large scoops of vanilla ice cream. I said jokingly, “that’s not enough ice cream.” She said, “Oh there’s plenty I’ll get you some more.” I said no I was just joking. I don’t think I caught a single fish that day, but I will never forget that piece of pie with ice cream. In that small café she wasn’t counting the cost of every scoop, she had plenty of ice cream and was ready to give me more.

I wonder if God is sort of like that – bestowing grace by the scoop, lavishly serving up love and grace just because God wants to and it is simply in God’s nature, it is the good pleasure of his will. We think that love must run out sooner or later, but God says “No I’ll get you some more.” God is for us.

But there are other questions. What if there is not divine forgiveness in this life? What if we are left to die with regrets, shame and guilt over wrongs we have done. Or what if there is really no meaning to the universe. What if all the political maneuvering of our day is the final word on things?

Our text suggests an alternative. It tells us that we have forgiveness of our trespasses. We are not left with regret and guilt. In Christ, God forgives us. And then Paul goes on to say that everything in heaven and on earth will be summed up in Christ, with Christ at the head. Things are going somewhere, there is meaning. We are not lost, we are not adrift. We are found in Christ. In fact, that is one of Paul’s favorite phrases, the term “in Christ.” Our text says that we are blessed in Christ, chosen in Christ, destined for adoption in Christ, redeemed and forgiven in Christ.

Now Paul will sometimes say that Christ is in us, and that is certainly a profound thing, but he prefers to say that we are in Christ. And think about it. If we emphasize only that Christ is in us then we define reality, and Christ is limited by us and our boundaries. But if we realize that we are in Christ, whose boundaries are without limit, then Christ determines reality and encompasses all that we are and do. Suddenly our life is as big as Christ is big.

Some people say that we Christians must know our geography. We must know where we live. We live not in a place of judgment without mercy, or without meaning. We live in Christ. That is where we come from. That is our home base. We live in Christ.

Let’s allow another question or two. What if we really do not belong or matter. Someone I know in Spokane shared in her church last week about her recent retirement after thirty seven years in the same job. She retired and then the COVID-19 shutdowns started. She no longer had a community in her work, and her church wasn’t meeting. And she wondered and spoke about belonging and mattering. What happens when we feel like we don’t belong or matter? And that is going to happen especially in a time like we are in now.

But we can trust that God has claimed us and brought us into the family fold. That’s what it means to be adopted. And you don’t have to be born into a Christian family, you can join up anytime. You can belong and matter whenever you are ready. Paul says that we are marked with the seal of the Holy Spirit as one of God’s own people, claimed by God. We can belong, we do matter.

We are inclined to think that we are the primary actors on the world’s stage. But what we read this morning tells us that God is the primary actor, always pressing in our direction. God for us, in and through Christ, claiming us by the Holy Spirit. Let that be good news for us as we begin this new year. Amen.